It would be unfair for us to call Samsung, or any other brand the best mobile brand in India. Everyone has their own personal preferences, after all. However, if nationwide sales figures are to be given a fair voice, then indeed, Samsung offers some of the best mobiles in India. For most months, it holds on to premier position as the top selling mobile brand in the country. So what are the reasons for Samsung’s positioning? How come it manages to maintain a lead even though new brands have taken the market by storm?
Samsung’s brand equity seems to be rather ageless, giving it access to literally the whole market, while everyone else seems to be falling over each other largely targeting college-goers and users in their twenties and thirties. It looks like Samsung have achieved this age-defying loyalty due to the following factors.
1- Early mover advantage
Samsung enjoyed a long run of monopoly in the Indian market. Alongside pricy Apple and Nokia, which fizzled away a few years ago, Samsung became the brand of choice. Older users who got habituated to Samsung, and developed trust in the brand during that period, have remained loyal to Samsung on account of that very same habit and trust. Samsung phones were far less accessible and far more expensive back when the market was less crowded. As a result, despite its models often being priced a notch higher than their Chinese counterparts, the long-term Samsung users tend to view current prices as a good deal.
2 – A cut above because of its tussle with Apple
If you compare Samsung mobiles below 15000 INR to any other brand’s mobiles under 15,000 INR, you might wonder how the brand holds top spot even though other brands offer comparable if not better specs, within the same price segment. For example, we compared Samsung mobiles under Rs 15,000 INR to Redmi mobiles under 15,000 INR.
The Samsung Galaxy A21s and the Redmi Note 9 Pro Max both show the same price tag of Rs. 14,999 on the same e-commerce website. Both phones come with a stunning array of features. But the Redmi model offers 6GB RAM, whereas the Samsung model offers 4GB RAM.
However, that’s the point. Because of being spoken about in the same breath as the iPhone for the longest time, until all these brands came in, many long-term Samsung users will not compare Samsung and Redmi. They see Samsung as being in a league above the other brands.
In fact, the marginally higher pricing sometimes sets Samsung apart as aspirational and therefore envy-worthy. This works for the brand in the millennial and Gen z segments.
3 – Tested servicing and widely publicized service centres
Besides, the brand has put in the hard work. Users who have been dabbling with Samsung since its monopoly days would have already tried and tested its servicing capabilities. Additionally, it probably helped Samsung’s case that some of the early movers took time establishing fully functioning service centres, leaving some users afraid of ‘taking a chance’ with new brands.
Samsung is also fairly vocal about its servicing network and capabilities. It is currently very proud about its 535 service vans across 6,000 talukas.
4 – Products
Of course, the icing on the cake is actual products targeted at less attended to segments. Samsung’s Zone V app, for instance, is a launcher that assists elders who have trouble seeing, hearing, or using their hands. Targeting a segment which might not have been a segment is the Samsung Galaxy Tab3 Kids, which according to the brand is for ‘children aged 3 years old and above’.
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